#don't get me started on representation

[solradguy]

I thought the early 2000s "strong yet naked/mostly naked woman kept in her place by stronger, bigger, beast/monster or gang of racist caricatures" trope* was known by basically everyone but I mentioned it as a criticism of this older art book I'd flipped through recently to a friend and it turns out it isn't lol Maybe I've just read too many Heavy Metal issues... It used to be HORRIBLY inescapable in any sort of mature art scene back in the day lmao

*This trope is different from the pre-2000s one because the women usually look like they COULD fight back for at least a little bit whereas the previous trope had them be completely helpless damsels in distress

[onyourowndaisymae]

this might be a bit divisive considering people get weird about autistic levi headcanons but i want to throw an even MORE controversial headcanon in the ring and say that i think satan might be a little 'tistic too. unlike levi, who got the anime autism, satan got the savant, tv representation autism

[eliounora]

red white and royal blue was so cheesy and predictable I enjoyed it thoroughly. making banal queer romantic comedies is hard but necessary work

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

every time i see someone claim the ancients were a magical indigenous utopia to aspire to (with 'a few little problems'), and any criticism of them as a society is apologia for native genocide, i clutch my head in agony. never change, twitter

[alxastrx]

A thing I particularly hate with the Twisted Wonderland fandom is how prompt they seems to forget that Lilia loved Levan as much as he loved Malleanor. There is no "Ah yes but-" No. He loved them both ROMANTICALLY, he was in LOVE with them BOTH. It's not actually known if he loved them both at the same time (in that case, he would be polyamourous) or if he loved one then the other, but in all case, it does not in any way means that he loved one less than the other. So why, dear fandom, have I yet to see a single post about Lilia and Levan (or Crowley, if we go along with this theory) being romantic toward one another. Why do I only see Lilia and Malleanor, Lilia and Malleanor, Lilia and Malleanor. Lilia would never be jealous of Levan for being Malleus' father, because he loved him. Even Malleanor freaking said that Malleus was a child of two people he fell in love with, so how could he not love him too ? Twisted Wonderland fandom, please, let's stop erase actual bisexual representation, because gods know we need it.

[trashratsaws]

No because something I love about King and Gold's story is the fact that there is no mother in sight. Hear me out. Rarely - like SO RARELY in fiction do you get the story of a single parent who's love for their child is whole and complete on its own without needing the supplement or feeling the "absentness" of the other parent. At the very least the second parent is always at LEAST mentioned, if not a huge part of the single parent or child's emotional development or entire character. With King and Gold, you have a father and a son, and there is nothing MISSING from that equation.

Could there be another parent with no big impact on the story? Sure. The second parent could have died many years ago, or left the family like Navy did with Purple, and Season 3 would've been almost exactly the same. But no. King and Gold are a complete family unit. There's nothing that is incomplete about it. The way King reacts to Gold's death is exactly the way we would expect for any other parent in any other piece of similar fiction media too, except there is no mention of a second parent, none of this "if only you were here" aimed at the absentee parent to indicate that being a single parent is somehow lesser than being a part of a two-parent family. I bet you didn't even realize that Gold doesn't have a mom or second dad. Because it was so well done that King and Gold is all you needed to see to understand - "that's a whole, complete family." Full stop. I love it

[intertexts]

also last post before i go 2 sleepworld but like literally if u like prime defenders u should try eidolon playtest DISKA. or any other seasons but DISKA is what im currently listening to. very few episodes in but it's so incredibly good & has a reputation for like, being Really Fucking Good, if that means anything to u. really well done system based off the persona series and jojo & stuff. teenagers solving mysteries and coming of age and going through insane shit and having canonical onscreen gay relationships and being transgender and stuff. saying this so lovingly and with so much genuine enthusiasm so u can't mistake me for being passive aggressive or whatever take my hand we can go into podcast world where there are well written and compelling characters of color & gay & trans characters!! like there!! played by folks of those identities!!! there r more things than white boys playing dnd or m&m than concieved in your philosophy horatio....

[hazbinfictivesofabiggersystem]

💅 People can say what they will about Vivz and her works (they're allowed to be wrong #sorrynotsorry), but if we weren't such a bloody mess I think we could write a dissertation on the tons of little ways both of these series are clever. Every time we watch them again we learn something new or notice something we missed that adds a new layer a depth. And then there's the possibilities! It's no wonder the fandom is on fucking fire right now, there's like a million different ways things could go and it's exhilarating.

[bonefall]

ACORN FUR VINDICATION RALLY YES, YES YES!

*glares at Moth Flight.* I KNEW YOU WERE EVIL I KNEW IT! YOU HURT POOR ACORN FUR'S FEELINGS JUST BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T CUT OUT TO BE A SINGLE MOM, BIRCH PLEASE!

Goddddd I hate Moth Flight, definitely one of my most hated Warriors characters

I write about her a lot, especially because it didn't have to be this way, but the Erins are utterly incapable of writing women who don't find catty, arbitrary reasons to hate each other

It's not even true that Moth Flight couldn't have raised her kits, she just denies the ample help that's available to her all book long for some asinine reason. Then she gets to have like 5 pages of condescending drivel shouting Acorn Fur down in... what I thiiiink is supposed to be some climactic "Wow now the character who has been disrespected all book is getting the backup she deserves :)" moment, but it just comes across as loathsome garbage.

I wrote about that when I was asked about Half Moon, another character I think is F-tier

I just... I hate DotC man. I hate this arc so much. I hate so many characters and things about it. I really hope that the Erins finally address Moth Flight as the horrible person that they've written her to be

And also I hope Leafpool gets to batter and fry her like shrimp tempura for what she did to her in that Squirrelflight's Hope trial scene

[meirimerens]

you know i must have been bone-tired when this part of the herb brides lore didn't come to my mind when i discussed how the Kin fundamentally differs from the cultures it is inspired by um There Is The Human Sacrifice part. like it's an important part of pathologic 2 that you are doing human, or anthropomorphic (if you want to see the Herb Brides as closer to spirits, which comes with its own set of problematics regarding how to approach their oppression) sacrifice. it's an important part of pathologic 2 that you kill a woman, as part of the journey and in direct resonance with you ritualistically killing cattle earlier, and she offers herself to you with cultural and religious significance.

human sacrifices have been done across the globe for millennia, but i cannot, for the life of me, find any source at all that mentions the Buryats (since that was the discussion point) partaking in human sacrifices by the turn of the 19th-early 20th century (or even anything past the 16th). every single source mentioning offerings and sacrifices i've read mentions animals, things such as milk and vodka, and often both at once. would love to read anything about these rituals if papers exist, but i'm personally drawing a blank.

the Kin has Obvious and very Visible influences but it also differs from specific (in this discussion's case, the Buryats) or wider (here, turkic/mongolic as a whole) cultures from the area by so many pieces, big and small, that i wouldn't have enough appendages on my whole body to count them all. and sister. i have plenty of appendages.

[kyouka-supremacy]

so, kyotag, your super honest opinion about bsd characters please (aka, who is your fave and who is your least fave. i promise, i am not trying to get you 'cancelled', i am just curious!) 🎤

Ever since I've gotten this ask I've been trembling, I don't think I can ever give bsd honest opinions for the sake of my own future mental sanity LMAO. The upside is, I can talk plenty of the characters I like!!

My favourite character is Kenji! For real, ahah. I'm just always drawn to characters that are just... Good. little guys only trying to do their best and be kind. I suppose there's also a factor of “that's who I want to be” that makes me like them in particular. I don't like the direction they went for Kenji's character in chapter 100.5, but really? I wasn't particularly let down by it either, like it's so fundamentally coherent with the worldview bsd expresses, if anything it was chapter 13 that was out of the scheme. I'm a professional canon ignorer at this point and I'll keep doing just that ahah.

↑ Saw this scene for the first time in the anime, went “Slay! Communist king!”, and he's been my favourite ever since lol.

Although, if we count in Beast, then my favourite character overall must be Beast Atsushi. I mean, have you seen him... Most fucked up guy ever. He went through unimaginable trauma and he still kept being so soft at his core. He just wants to live but everyone is making it so hard for him. He cares for Kyouka so much and he cares for Dazai so much and (to me) he cares for Akutagawa so much like little traumatized boy how did you manage to save all that love in you despite the Horrors. I can't put in words how much I love him but really he's the only character I can say I really sympathize with, like, I want good things to happen to him. I want him to spend the rest of his life coddled and adored.

I love all the female characters <3 I ADORE Kyouka, I think among the other female characters she's the most multilayered and complex character with a structured and compelling story arc. I think she's seriously nice, I really love this stark contrast between her sharp, cynical side and her side that is so sweet and kind and so utterly 14 y/o, and I love how these two sides aren't really in conflict but just come to be together and make her so authentically Kyouka. She's so dear to me. Also, she's the only female character who can compete with the s.kk / ss.kk four for the role of main character, so like, I'm rooting for her ahah.

I adore Yosano for self-explanatory reasons lmao. The chapters of her backstory may not be my absolute favourites for a mere matter of personal taste but I definitely think they make for the best written chapters in the whole manga. I really like how sensitive she is of others' suffering, I think she's amazing– I think her compassion is truly amazing. I want to read more stories of unapologetically compassionate characters. I also generally really really love “older sister” kind of characters!!

I love Kouyou with all I've got. I'm sorry, I genuinely think her story was this good on mistake, but still. I think her backstory makes her genuinely intriguing, I think she's extremely cool and powerful and a joy to see in action, I think toxic mother / daughter relationships are super fun to explore, I think she deserves so much more spotlight and should be back as soon as possible.

I love Mitchell lmao. Like I know it may not look like it but I truly think about her 24/7. I just love women that are kinda silly and over the top. She's got like four lines and every single one is a gem and I adore all of them. She's got those big evident flaws and they make her so human and likeable!!! She's my best friend. Not to mention how loyal she is and how much she cares about her family, I really like those traits of her. Oh, and gowns! I love love love gowns.

Okay but seriously I love all female characters. I didn't like Lucy in particular at the start but she's really grown on me and now I adore her with everything. Wells is spectacular and I need her back as soon as possible. Every woman I didn't mention, from Higuchi to Egawa, believe me I love with all my heart.

I went off a tangent I'm so sorry </3 I know you asked for one character, but how can I not mention the others??? It's just been so long for me in the fandom now and I just can't but grow attached. And I've got so much untapped love for women I never get to talk about on my silly blog that focuses on two men. Following up the list, would be Akutagawa. And I don't want to talk about him because I suppose there's no need to after having made one trillion posts about him but also can I just say? I like him for the same exact reasons I like Kenji. She's just a guy trying to be good. The difference is that he sucks so bad at it, and it makes him SO fun to explore as a character. I really have so much fun playing with him. Then would be Tachihara, Jouno...

... ........................ For the characters I like least, I suppose, R/anpo. I'm so sorry peoples. In R/anpo's case, it's just... Why do you have to be so mean and disrespectful all the time. Seriously, dude. Why is he always treating others as less than he is. I'm sorry, I really am, but I just can't help but find it displeasant? Like it takes zero energy to treat other people with common human decency, c'mon dude. At least Akutagawa is trying to do better, but everyone treats R/anpo like he's entitled to be a jerk? Idk man.

K/unikida. In his case, I Do Get why he's the way that he is (and genuinely can relate to him to an extent), it's just... For the way I am, I consider to try and forcibly impose your own ideals on other people to be about the most insulting thing you can do. And he does that a lot, with Atsushi and Dazai and everyone else. He also has this whole forced lack of empathy thing going on like... I get why he does that, and I get what he went through that made him like he is, but that doesn't change the fact you're kinda being a dick to everyone all the time dude. Please get some therapy.

That doesn't mean there aren't moments when I've genuinely liked them both and found them seriously cool!!!! I still think K/unikida is an interesting character and I genuinely get why people like him. I love the helicopter scene, I remember when I was reading the manga for the first time, when he said “no one ruins my schedule”, I was like, whaa, I was completely in awe. For R/anpo too, the Untold Origins arc from what I could see from the anime was really nice, and I also highly enjoy that one scene of his in chapter 81, the “To tell the truth, I had absolutely no assurance they'd believe me”.

Thank you for the ask Nyusa!! I hope you could find this at least a little bit interesting (?). If anything, now you know a little more about me, ahah. Also not talking about Dazai this time because really I can't be here the whole day.

[marciliedonato]

Ok ok ok cool talk now I need y'all to start talking about glamorous on Netflix before I turn this car around and drive off a cliff 😃🤠

[themidnightcircusshow]

@heartofstanding tagged me in this meme months ago and unfortunately it took me this long to get to it because I had a mild crisis over how long it's been since I've read a novel, let alone one that I loved 😅 so this is nine of my favourite novels (not books, because if I included manga/short stories/comics/etc this would be giant)

0The Picture of Dorian Gray -- Oscar Wilde// Pyrrhus-- Mark Merlis//The Scarecrow--Ronald Hugh Morrieson//Unnatural History--Kate Osman//Tunnels of Blood--Darren Shan//The Coffin Dancer--Jeffery Deaver//Hero--Perry Moore//Frankenstein--Mary Shelley//One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest-- Ken Kasey

[scholar-of-yemdresh]

r/fantasy recommend books other than by the same 7 cis white guys challenge: level herculean.

It's genuinely disgusting to me how myopic their recommendations are. No wonder we keep getting posts asking for books with good female characters or POC or Queers because the image of fantasy you project is cishet dude mantasy slop where women are rape doll incubators(the more underaged the more "realistic") and poc/queers are more mythical than dragons.

I swear to God if I see one more neckbread bleating about The First Song Of Wheel Storm Name Winds Law by T.R.M McWhiteman I'll b*mb an orphanage.

Seriously if the only "zomg must read most epicest bestest fantasy everrrr!!!" Are ALL the SAME cis white men, your reading tastes are shit, your literature pallet is unrefined to the point of non-existence, you have no idea what you're talking about, you have no ability to give actually good book recommendations, you're just shovelling the same mantasy slop that the ur-neckbreads shoved at you, your recommendations are bad and you should feel bad.

Are you giving worthwhile recommendations that fit the brief or are you just throwing your uwu favourite books at a person, damn the fact that it doesn't fit or might even be the exact opposite of what the OP is looking for? Hmmm???

[greatwyrmgold]

A lot of stories with nonverbal characters will give them some sort of character arc about gaining the "courage" or whatever to speak. Sometimes this is an explicit goal of the character or their friends, sometimes it just happens over time. Either way, it's annoying at best. (See this post about Komi-san Can't Communicate for more information.)

I'm pretty sure Shizuka Yoshimoto from The 100 Girlfriends Who Really [...] Really Love You won't do that. Her introductory episode ends with Rentaro finding a text-to-speech app that she can use to communicate, which is a lot more convenient than her previous method of nonverbal communication (flipping to a relevant passage in her favorite novel and pointing to it).

Shizuka getting a better tool for communication isn't a problem, of course. But I'm not sure how to feel about the series's use of that tool. It's basically just used as an excuse for Shizuka to talk like any of the other girls, with basically no problems.

No conversation ever moves past her while she's trying to respond; It only takes her a fraction of a second to select whatever text she wants to say, and everyone follows the script. She never has anyone talk over her on accident, not even Karane, who rarely uses her indoor voice. She always has her phone out, TTS app at the ready. The limitations of the app never impede her ability to communicate clearly. And so on. Hell, in the episode I paused to write this rant, she takes her phone to the pool, so that conversations involving her don't have any unwanted friction.

I'm not saying that Shizuka should be socially paralyzed by the limitations of her accessibility device. But it didn't have to write those limitations away, either. Komi-san's titular character has to pull out her notebook and write with it to communicate, which is sometimes inconvenient or faces difficulty (e.g. if she can't find a pen)...well, until she just talks all the time. Anyways, Shizuka doesn't even need to do that much.

Aside from being a bit more realistic, that little extra bit of friction makes her friends putting up with it mean something. It can be inconvenient for Komi's friends, but they put up with it because they are her friends. Intentional or not, it kinda feels like Rentaro's girlfriends put up with Shizuka because talking with her is never inconvenient, because Rentaro found that app for her to use. And that is just...depressing.

100 [...] Love You doesn't tie Shizuka's character development to her ability to speak out loud, either causatively or symbolically, and that's good. But it also just erases any obstacles her disability might give her, and I don't think that's good.

EDIT: Probably should have added this while it was in the queue, but by the end of that episode, Shizuka's phone ran out of batteries when she was trying to call for help, a problem which was solved by Shizuka vocally crying for help. One step forward, one step back.

[mh-midnight-wanderer]

Me: What a week for Monster High content {spoilers for MH cartoon: "The Deuce Date"}

Monster High G3: Deuce explains Lagoona and Heath about his sexuality and being happy with his friends

[MEANWHILE]

Monster High G1 comic: Oh booy Frankie falling in love with no other Johnny Spirit who may or may not be Operetta's ex

Me: I hope Operetta & Johnny break up on good terms otherwise...

Now. Let it be war upon you both...